Leopard Gecko tank insight needed

[Galaxy The Leo]

Hi All, I'm setting up a new enclosure for my leopard gecko, and since it's in my basement which is pretty cold, I was wondering if it would be okay to put a small heating pad on my cool side of the tank because it's a 20 gallon and my heat lamp can only do so much. the heating pad is the small zilla kind, and it works great, so because I've found no answers anywhere else, I decided to go here for an answer.

 

[Rubble1212]

Hi All, I'm setting up a new enclosure for my leopard gecko, and since it's in my basement which is pretty cold, I was wondering if it would be okay to put a small heating pad on my cool side of the tank because it's a 20 gallon and my heat lamp can only do so much. the heating pad is the small zilla kind, and it works great, so because I've found no answers anywhere else, I decided to go here for an answer.

I’ll be honest I don’t keep leopard geckos but just in general I’m not a proponent of heating pads/ mats in general but of course that’s just my opinion so I’m not trying to tell you what to do by any means. If it were me I’d buy another heat dome fixture and an Arcadia DHP and run it on the cool side. It’s a new technology and produces great heat for the enclosure and can be run 24/7. The research I’ve done has a lot of information on DHP’s being used with leopard geckos alongside your uvb instead of a basking bulb. Look up Arcadia Deep Heat Projector and you can watch some videos and read some information. I think it will be a better source of heat and may be able to replace your basking bulb altogether? Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[Galaxy The Leo]

Thanks!

 

[AHBD]

I use a heat pad for mine and she's been thriving for 6 years. Has an appetite like a wolverine and very active and healthy. The heat pad I use is the type for humans and I like these because they have 3 settings.

 

[Galaxy The Leo]

I"m definitely gonna keep the heat pad, but I'll look into the DHP too.

 

[Rubble1212]

Yeah do some research on the DHP I think there’s some really good information on their use with leopard geckos. A bunch of videos you can watch explain in a really simple way to understand. Are you using a thermostat with your heat mat it’s different than one for us humans and there’s some real horror stories about the reptile heat mats overheating and burning reptiles. I think a lot of people sandwich them in between tile or something similar just to be safe then monitor temperatures with a temp gun.

 

[Galaxy The Leo]

The mat is under the whole tank, so there is a layer of glass and about 2 inches of sand in between the leo and the heat pad, in the new tank there is a thermostat, so I'm safe. also, I check it every day, because I'm real paranoid about my gecko.

 

[Rubble1212]

That’s good I didn’t mean to sound like you were doing anything wrong so sorry about that. From what little I know about leopards they are nocturnal but also come out at dawn and dusk so having a actual source of light is beneficial to establish a light cycle and might be best to have a basking light during the day and heat mat then just leaving the heat mat on at night time which it sounds like you’re doing already. It sounds like they come out at dusk and use the heat of the rocks exposed to the sun all day. But I’m sure you know this already I was just curious and did a little reading. I love learning about different reptiles lol

 

[Galaxy The Leo]

Oh, I didn't even think for a second you were criticizing me, don't worry, and thank you.